Healthier Information Ecosystems: Strategies for Health Philanthropy

Our information environment is transforming—including the places and people who help us make decisions about our health. Those health information ecosystems are fragmented; filled with information from a wide range of expertise and sources; and platform algorithms exert tremendous and unseen control over what messages are seen, shared, and amplified. These changes have many of our traditional health information sources racing to learn new skills to ensure they remain trusted and relevant.

Read More →

Beyond Innovation: How Philanthropy Can Strengthen Systems to Improve Rural Health Outcomes

Sometimes innovation in philanthropy is associated with breakthrough technologies or new medical discoveries. But some of the most impactful investments fund something less visible: the coordination of people, protocols, and institutions already in place so they work together seamlessly to save lives.

Read More →

A Philanthropic Tree of Life: Seeding Health Equity through Influence and Innovation

Philanthropy can function as a living ecosystem for change rooted in equity, nourished by trust, and bearing the fruits of community well-being. The Direct Relief Fund for Health Equity (DRFHE), launched with $50 million in initial investments, exemplifies a transformative philanthropic model supporting nearly 200 community-based organizations across the United States. Acknowledging DRFHE as a “Tree of Life” offers a framework grounded in community-led, trust-based, and unrestricted giving that challenges traditional philanthropic paradigms. Therefore, this article describes the fund’s origins, strategic priorities, and outcomes, and introduces the DRFHE Tree of Life framework as a replicable model for equity-driven philanthropy.

Read More →

GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners

The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partners and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.

Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Dental Hub and Spoke Project Links Kansans in Underserved Areas to Dental Care

Kansas, like many states with a vast rural geography, has substantial areas with little or no access to oral health services. Studies of the Kansas dental workforce show 93 of 105 counties do not have enough dentists to serve their population.  

Read More →

The Partnership to Eliminate Disparities in Infant Mortality

In 2008 the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided CityMatCH, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and the National Healthy Start Association with a $400,000 grant to create the Partnership to Eliminate Disparities in Infant Mortality, focused on eliminating racial inequities contributing to infant mortality in U.S. urban areas.

Read More →

GIH Celebrates 30 Years of Helping Grantmakers Improve the Health of All People

In 2012 GIH celebrates its 30th anniversary. Ever since our modest beginnings as a three-year trial program of the Foundation Center, our charge has been straightforward: serve the field of health philanthropy to improve the health of all people. Today, GIH continues to carry out this challenging and rewarding mission, thanks in no small part to the ongoing support of our Funding Partners.

Read More →
Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Making the Connection with HIT

Health information technology (HIT) is now widely regarded as a promising tool for improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of the health care delivery system – largely due to a major influx of federal funding and the Affordable Care Act. Despite its newfound prominence, the benefits of HIT were only championed by a small cadre of health care professionals a mere six year ago.

Read More →

The One that Got Away: Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy on Moving up and Moving on

Does philanthropy in the 21st century offer a viable career path for rising leaders with fresh visions and several decades of potential contributions before them, or is it a significant, yet temporary stop on what is sure to be a varied career journey?

Read More →

GIH President and CEO Lauren LeRoy to Step Down October 2012

Lauren LeRoy, who since 1998 has led Grantmakers In Health through a period of transformative growth and change, will step down as president and CEO in October 2012.

Read More →